Now the topic begins to become interesting ... how should the handling of the players character function!
a.k.a. character creation, character schooling (if any), the characters engagement in the house/clan...(contracts active, - completed, - failed...)


so we´ll have players acting in the various roles available in the universe. How do you suggest we manage players acting as merchant, or should that be bot-driven?


are you thinking of implementing a "Player Health Condition", say as in tjhe style of Fallout! A broken leg or arm would automatically degrease the Players combat readiness! And if it were a broken leg or arm the character had to (or is then forced to) engage in other aspect (than as a pilot) in the region/world that he/she residense in.


jubii ... clapping hands! and that´s a possibility in the CBT universe... ´pops a beer and salutes the suggestion!


That part of the game setup is actually a good one, thou adding the CL/IS leaders of the various player groups that will eventually come, a certain control in the game should be possible, and also letting them gain respectfull positions in the Game world, I see this as a more correct solutions, but yes having Admins as the top of the hierachy, is a must, that way the world structure is not corrupted (easily).


cool ... dozess of dreaming...


To a certain degree the players should be able to control the universe, either by force of arms, or by political actions, but the player has to have developed his character in that direction too. On the treaties subject, the gameworld should have certain restrictions, due to the balance, and obvious enemies should not be able to make other treaties except peace treaties, at least not in the intial game and 1-2 years forward in the timeline.
CW dosnt it depends on how wealthy and influentual a pilitician is, and eventually a renegade general could possibly have a force big anuf that the general could seize a planet! oh a plot arised... (cencored for public discretion)


If the game world actually became a mayor buzz, the amount of players able to reach the abitily to gain control of mayor chaacters would degrease rapitly, no I think the players character, is the one that should gain a more prominent role in the overall game world. We cannot be sure that all players will eventually play the "offered" character as it is supposed to be played. So thats nihil in monde, and should not be possible, thou its a good idea, I´ll give you that.


Having a (non-admin or in-house) player to control vital positions in a game world is a dangerous path, that you may eventually give that player too much control (game-wisely), and nepotism would surely spread (among that players own/earlier fellows)!

Yes and no.  There will, of course, be in place multiple thousands of merchant NPCs across the universe, perhaps millions -we wouldn't know unless we were allowed to build the game- and the universe will continue to expand with Player Characters of all types, who will be able to take on every single role any NPC in the universe has.  It will all depend on how a player designs their character, what role(s) they choose to play in and, once the character is in the mix, how they build that character.

I hadn't thought of that, and I'm uncertain it would be good for a MMORPG.  I'm already pushing a slight boredom factor with some of the unrefined concepts I've developed that are necessary to the lore/history/game functioning of the universe, but that's something to look into for sure.

Players have always been limited within their very own classes in every MMORPG that's been developed so far, and I would really like to break that cycle, if I ever get money enough to do it.  FASA Corporations original games all provide for that mechanism.  There are archetypes but no real classes.  There are classifications, as in the real world, based on skills, training, and licensing/certification -aka a Green MechWarrior... this does not mean he is brand new to the MechWarrior CLASS, this means he is qualified to pilot BattleMechs and is rated as green because he's new- but there are no real classes.  Even though the MechWarrior PnP RPG has always sucked balls, as it doesn't fit the table top mold, I would say the game itself was way ahead of its time, and would fit a MMORPG perfectly.

I agree, completely, with both of you.  However, I also believe admins should, based on player performance, attitude, maturity and, perhaps, even knowledge, be allowed to choose their successor and relinquish that character to a player.  Players would really have to put their characters and themselves through the ringer to get there, but I think it would be a very neat, very new, aspect to MMORPGs.

Well, I think the treaties would be at the discretion of the game system for about the first 10 years of MMORPG activity -yes, I realize the typical MMORPG only lasts for 5 years, but this will NOT, CAN NOT, be the typical MMORPG- but when it comes to things like mercenary contracts, there are hundreds of them already developed in the FASA, FanPro, and I'm sure they will continue in the Catalyst books and all of those, and many hundreds to thousands more would be available.  See, before MW2 and MW2: Mercs became popular for their Clan origins, hardcore IS players throughout ALL of the leagues played as if they were mercenaries in the Inner Sphere, and it wasn't until the later introduction of the Clans that things began to change.  For the first couple years, at least, after the multiplayer video games began to come out, mercenaries were the shiznit, the cool deal.  I would like to see a small return to that in BTO, which means there would have to be a LOT of contracts available.

See, that also depends on how important that planet is to whether or not the Liege Lord of that Inner Sphere or Periphery state would allow them to keep the planet, appoint it to them -as they would a Land Holding for a new minor noble or MechWarrior that really gave a lot, if not all, per the MechWarrior rules- and leave it be, or if the planet is very important -whether for military forces, agriculture, production, banking, etc., or for strategic reasons- if they wouldn't just drop the hammer on the unit that took over.

Well, see, only those players who believe they should be in those positions, or even knew what those positions meant -and I mean for the BattleTech/MechWarrior community to only be about 1/3rd of the overall population of the game- would even try for them in the first place, because they want to play them.  However, if a player without any designs to be in a major personalities position is offered one, and they turn it down, no big deal.  The admin seeking someone for that position puts a mark in the database that the player did not want to play that character, and that character will not be offered to them again. 

All in all it's supposed to be an incentive for players to move their characters in specific directions so when the free-run portion of the game, at the 10-year anniversary mark, comes up there will be people in positions of authority that deserve to be there, and will do the right thing to continue development of the universe in the right direction rather than just destroying it outright.  My idea stems from the fact that there are house, clan, periphery, and merc leaders in all manner of real-world leagues who, frankly, don't have what it takes to really do what is necessary, in a MMORPG environment, and it would be a disaster to just allow them to take control of something large, because they would run it and the whole universe into oblivion in a matter of weeks.  You always hear stories about guys taking planet after planet over the space of hours, entire houses in weeks, etc., and that's just a huge load of crap to me.  That shows me a lack of care on the parts of the people who built the leagues in the first place -don't get me wrong, I admire their work, to a point, and they did something I couldn't do, but they still didn't care enough to make it necessary to work over a planet.  In fact, ISW are the only crew who have thus far.

Anyway, that would all have to change in BTO.

Yes, that is a worry, but then that's why the path is very long to get there and various important requirements must be met beforehand.  Even once a leader gets to a top spot, they only have so much power on what Player Characters they can bring closer to them based on nepotism, etc.  It would still take a very long time to get their friends up there with them, if the game is programmed correctly. 

Okay, I need you guys to understand this:
Every single player in the game will be required to use their character as a tool to chip away at their own little tunnel in the coal mine to get where they want to go; this will be coded into the game, and is not modifiable by higher players just because they want their friends right next to them.

Wolf's Dragoons did not take over Delos, didn't fire a single shot on them.  Rather, within an hour, the Dragoons requested an audience to get a contract.

Well, that's the point, though, isn't it?  Think about it, a guy fresh out of high school, unless they were born with a silver spoon in their mouth, is not going to move directly into the CEO slot at a Fortune 500 company, right?  A person without a college education, unless they have the body and face of a model, is not going to work for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or find themselves in a position of any importance at all, are they?

Same thing with the factories.  Same thing with new characters freshly made just launched.

First question... what did the player have to do in order to get their character in that position?

I like it, and I've thought of it often.  I believe that the basis of games like Starcraft and Civilization ought to be placed into a MMORPG at some point so various worlds and/or locations can be developed new.  Commanders, CEOs, Nobles, Politicians, and non-Corporate Business Owners would be able to design their own buildings with game software -not connected to a server, though the final product would be uploaded to a server when it was ready- and be able to place those buildings, to move through a construction pattern and cycle like building a real structure would take, as soon as they had the resources -as determined by the design program and also uploaded- to build it.  That structure would then become part of the permanent database and available to others to pull from.

You've just revealed a problem I hadn't thought of until now.  I've been working under the assumption that nearly all players would want to play MechWarriors or some manner of combat junky, because the combat will be real, even if the results stay in line with the lore, on the battlefield.  However, what about those who know how the storyline is working and decide to work towards going into business for themselves?  How would that impact the economy of the game, the balance of it?  Hmmm, something I'll have to give more thought to, eventually.

hmm I would most of all play a BT/MW if it had the real feel as driving a tank. With that i mean that the ´Mech unit has to be callibrated to engage with its armament!


Only people with a solid knowledge will attempt to play the game as a Mercenary, or other position were the economy has a larger role ... and I dont think we´ll have to worry about grinders in the game, that raising a solid economy and also sponsors of a mercenary unit takes months (if not years) to set-up!